Getting through to the next generation

Well folks, I have kids, as many of you do. Teaching them about our economy, and how it runs on make-believe money is not an easy task. As others have stated along the way, the use of this site and others is the key to survival, and the simple fact is that too much of the populous doesn't get it. They don't understand the system, its impact on the environment, and the levels of excess that this country consumes.

We as 'grown-ups' can and should, all be watching and learning from the Crash Course, Money Masters, Zeitgeist (parts 1 & 2), and many others that tell the truth about the sham being thrown at us. But the kids - who inherit this mess, have been confused by some of the concepts, and most of these other courses and websites are missing how our actions are really affecting the rest of the world.

So I'm plugging a video by Annie Leonard. If you have kids, show them this video. Make copies, give it to the school, etc. Besides that, watch yourself - it's about the simplest and easiest to understand explanation of the consumer-based economy I've been able to find. If anybody out there has any similar training aids I can put out the the kids in my area, please forward them along!

Thanks for the link. It's REALLY hard to find stuff to educate kids, and even harder to get them interested in all of these issues. My little ones are too young for this video, but for my 8 year old Nephew, it's perfect. Maybe Chris can start-up a kids section on the website and do some presentations geared towards children ages 8-13. I educate kids and teenagers from time to time with technology, and that is easy compared to economics. I watch Zeitgeist as well, and it brought up things I knew already, but the religion part really threw me. I spent 2 months in Egypt, and have seen most of the major sites all the way down the Nile. But I had never seen the comparisons of Jesus to Hours, the Sun God and all the other similarities. That was a mind bender. "Money as Debt" is a cartoon based way of explaining a lot of things, but I don't know if it would be suitable for kids. Sometimes it can get a little confusing for my 8 year old nephew and I need to explain a lot about it to him. If I see anything new for children, I will let you know. BTW, how old are your kids? Mine are 20 months and the 2nd is coming this Tuesday, lol. It's been a tense week!

I am a philosopher first (in case you can't tell) but have worked as a programmer in the past. Reality is to me what most engages my 5 (6?) senses and I know that if I follow just a few then I go further from reality but like the lines of a force field am eventually forced back to reality. Money and computers are much the same in that respect in that they engage too few senses.

This is what I would say to the young. William Burroughs (sp?) eat your heart out!

Terrible two's and another on the way - You have my sympathies! My kids are (all three) are freshmen in high school, and thankfully all honor students. I don't say that to imply they're smart, but they do want to learn. The information geared toward both young and old that I find, they see. What I've found that when some of the more complex issues are presented to them in one presentation, the lighter side of another, perhaps 'kids' version, pulls it together. After a mix of a few different presentations I hear "I get it now!" responses.

This site, and many of its members WILL make the difference. If the situation we're in now had happened pre-internet, our position would be very different!